


under the lilac tree

by raewrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, also lilacs are hella, it's spring god bless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 14:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1713755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raewrites/pseuds/raewrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a lilac tree in Kei’s backyard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	under the lilac tree

**Author's Note:**

> today i noticed the lilac tree in my backyard was fully bloomed ~

There’s a lilac tree in Kei’s backyard.

Akiteru tells him it’s technically a bush, he learned about it in class, but Kei still calls it a tree to himself.

Bushes are things he hides in when he plays hide and seek with Akiteru. Bushes are things to climb into and peer out of as legs walk past unaware of the way he holds his breath behind his hands. Trees are tall. Trees are something to lie under, looking up at clear, spring skies between low-hanging branches.

Kei finds himself doing this often now because of Tadashi.

Tadashi is the first between them to find beauty in the lilac tree, saying one late, spring morning that his mother has lilac perfume but, “Wow this is a  _real_  one! You’re so lucky, Tsukki!”

Kei isn’t quite sure why having a lilac tree is so special, it’s been there ever since Kei can remember; a light brush of purple against an overwhelming canvas of green, a pleasantly gentle smell amongst the hard scent of cut grass and new mulch, a sign that spring has arrived at last.

He voices such things aloud, but the sparkle in Tadashi’s eyes doesn’t fade in the slightest as the boy reaches up on his tip-toes to brush his hand against one of the lower hanging branches. Afterwards, he turns to Kei, not quite meeting his eyes, looking embarrassed as his fingers intertwine in front of him and he asks timidly, “Do you think…we can lie under the lilacs for a little?”

Kei raises his eyebrows, a motion that throws Tadashi into a small panic, waving his arms out in front of him, speaking in a fluster of ‘um’s that Kei always finds a bit annoying.

“Ah! Sorry, Tsukki! I-I came over to play volleyball, so, um, we can play volleyball I was just-”

“It’s fine.”

When Tadashi gives him a wary look, Kei shrugs his shoulders, lowering himself to the ground, smoothing out the grass beneath him before lying down on his back. Tadashi continues to stand, blinking down at him until Kei lets out an impatient huff, patting the grass beside him.

“What are you still standing there for?”

It’s with another flustered, “Sorry, Tsukki!” that Tadashi finally joins him, arms brushing and muddied sneakers tilted towards each other, both boys looking up between thin, green branches and clusters of tiny, blooming flowers at glimpses of bright blue sky.

And Kei wonders why he’s never done this before.

As a gentle wind blows, a few of the flowers fall to the ground, landing on Kei’s nose, tickling him before he brushes them away, pouting slightly in annoyance. He tilts his head to see if Tadashi is having the same problem, but is instead met with a bright smile, a few of the small flowers dotting along the bridge of Tadashi’s nose like larger, purple freckles.

When Tadashi’s eyes eventually flutter closed, a small patch of sunlight warming him like a blanket, carrying him into a calm sleep, Kei finds himself picking up some of the fallen flowers from between blades of grass, carefully covering Tadashi’s cheeks and nose with them. He follows the dark clusters of freckles along the curve of Tadashi’s cheekbones, the ridge of his nose, until Kei is absentmindedly counting them as he goes along, hushed under his breath.

It’s a sudden sneeze that eventually wakes Tadashi up, ruining Kei’s handiwork.

Tadashi looks confused about the multitude of flowers now surrounding him; both under the neck line of his t-shirt and in his hair, but doesn’t ask questions.

And Kei is glad.

He doesn’t know what to say.

***

Years later, Kei kisses Tadashi under the lilac tree.

It’s as they’re walking towards the back door, backpacks heavy on their shoulders with the promise of a long night studying, when Kei catches Tadashi’s eyes wander to the lilac tree. The memory of so many spring afternoons pulls the corners of Tadashi’s lips into the faintest of smiles, one Kei’s not sure even the other teen notices. Looking between him and the tree, Kei lets out a small sigh, taking a step into the grass, glancing over his shoulder as he does so.

“What are you still standing there for?”

This time it’s a wide grin that makes its way to Tadashi’s face as he follows, his light voice carried away in the gentle wind as he replies with a soft, “Sorry, Tsukki.”

It’s when the flowers fall down on them and Tadashi lets out a small, breathy laugh that Kei rolls onto his shoulder, leaning to press his lips against Tadashi’s, against the curve of that smile, drawing the small, surprised gasp from his lips between his own.

Tadashi is warm from the sun, the flush of his cheeks seeping into Kei like a dwindling fire. He smells like lilac, clean and gentle against the senses, against the harsher smells of mud and grass. He feels like something new but pleasantly familiar, akin to blooming flower buds on newly green branches. Tadashi is like spring, like something Kei wasn’t quite sure he was waiting for until he finally noticed it, like the bloom of the lilac tree after a long thaw.

_Like Tadashi lying beside him, covered in flowers and sunshine._

When Kei pulls away to look towards the lilac branches again, Tadashi doesn’t ask questions, but hesitantly reaches out to take his hand, resting his palm in Kei’s, their fingers intertwined.

And Kei is glad.

Tadashi already knows what he wants to say.


End file.
